Darklands (1996)

User Rating:

4.1/10   

Director:

Julian Richards

Writers:

David Mitchell (additional dialogue)
Julian Richards (written by)

Release Date:

26 November 1997 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The old flesh is dead, long live the new!

Plot:

A reporter investigates ritual profanations and finds himself involved with a Druidic cult.

Plot Keywords:

Journalist | Cult | Sacrifice | Witchcraft | Paranoia

Awards:

6 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Craig Fairbrass	...	Frazer Truick
Jon Finch	...	David Keller
Rowena King	...	Rachel Morris
Roger Nott	...	Dennis Cox
Dave Duffy	...	Carver (as David Duffy)
Richard Lynch	...	Salvy
Ray Gravell	...	Bearded Gypsey
Kim Ryan	...	Scared Gypsey
Bob Blythe	...	McCullen
Nicola Branson	...	Becky
Hubert Rees	...	Bill Sawyer
Philip Babot	...	Chainsaw
Morega Polser	...	May Queen
Ian Deveraux	...	Green Man
William Thomas	...	Detective Jarvis

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | Germany:18 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Barry Hotel, Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, UK

Company:

Metrodome Films

Movie Connections:

References The Wicker Man (1973)

Soundtrack:

Blind Leading the Blind

A TV special that got some money to be a film

An industrial Celtic cult is recruiting people from the local steel mill and leading them in pagan sacrifice rituals - I wonder if it could have anything to do with the gypsies just outside the mill? This is an example of one of the plot drivers that this film relies on - ones that are pretty obvious from the start.

However the film also has plenty of other plot twists that are revealed along the way, most of these are good but too many rely on coincidence or overlooking the facts. The whole cult-conspiracy thing is a bit unbelievable - maybe the Wickerman succeeded with a similar plot due to the island setting - here set in Wales it's not as easy to accept. But if you can overlook this then it's actually quite good.

The performances are OK - Fairbrass doesn't quite bring off the fear and confusion that he should but does a reasonable leading man. Rowena King is good as the love interest Rachael, she's there to add a bit of sex to the proceedings - however that said the love scenes between her and Fairbrass are laughable, clearly neither agreed to be naked on screen and their orgasms are harder to believe than a Celtic cult sacrificing Welsh people. The other characters are mainly rent-a-Celtic-thugs or small parts - you can usually tell whose bad or good easily enough due to the performances.

The plot is reasonable but regularly fails to convince - with most good films you're able to buy into it at least while you're watching it. For most of it however the twists keep your interest. When I read the comments on these pages I watched this in anticipation for the shock ending - however it's not there! You pretty much know how it's going to end 20/30 minutes before it happens. It's still an OK ending but lets not make this out to be what it isn't - a reasonable TV special that got some lottery money to become a film.